Rail joint



Patented Nov. 3, 1953 reo saar-Es PATENT :creto-E .7.Claims. il This invention relates to a rail joint,sespecia1ly .11o-a vwelded rail joint.

l.In :joining 'trail itendsitogether l'bytweldingit is A'customary to use -za 4:plate 1-undervor:alongsideA .the :rails :at zthe place where :the itwo rends come 1to- Sgether sand l-ito 'weld 'tthe trail -en'ds Ito lfthe plate. iIt has :been found :that @conventional rail fj oints ihaveitheiiiisadvantage `ofrcausingesti-essf concen- -traticns where tthe ireinforcing plates Afend, .pauszmgtherailsi tdbreakfanthesef points.

It is, accordingly, an object of this iinvention to Aprovidefa'Lwe-ldedrail joint in which the plate to which the rail ends are Welded is so designed astoiprovideafdistributionaoi?stresses'that 'avoids concentrations .suiiicient .to cause .fai-lure of the I rail. This and other objects are accomplished in a plate 'which is wider than=the rail, which is 7recessed ati its -ends,- therecesses 'divergingl toward the endsof-theplate andbe'ing at theiropen ends, in an ideal.-embodiment-mhe same width Ias the portion of the rail to .which theplate is secured-and which is tapered from a maximum thickness Aat arpointbetweenthe rail ends 'to a minimum thickness at the ends of the plate where the recesses are of maximum width. The joint is furthermore preferably made with the rail ends spaced apart and the space thus provided being at least partially lled with weld metal.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

of a rail joint made Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the recessed plate of a joint made according to the invention, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a completed rail joint made according to the invention.

The invention is shown as being applied to a pair of conventional rails 2 having the usual head 4, web 6 and base 8. 'Ihe two rails 2&2 are laid end-to-end, preferably with the end i0 spaced somewhat from the end I2. A plate I4, wider than the base 8, is welded as at |6 to the under side of the base 8 of each rail 2.

Plate I4 is recessed as shown at I8. The recesses are provided in the ends of the plate and diverge from near a point 20 substantially midway between the ends to a maximum width at the ends of the plate. The maximum width of the recess is substantially the same as the width of the base 8. Ideally, the maximum width of the recess would be exactly the width of the base. However, such a structure might require undue care in alinement of the plate with the base at the time of welding, so for practical reasons the 2 recess may Alie-:made lsomething lflike :a "fhaif finch narrowerthan the'fba'seto permit-afquarterfdf an f inch vmisalinementeither way.

The recesses'arepreferably curve'd as iis y'l'.es't seen in dotted '1 lines in' Fig. 11, the rcurve-bcing'fa Assmoothf one v and lproviding "for -a fgradu'al? increase in `the widthfof 4the recess. "Itshould'i'urtherbe noted that at the very-ends of the'jplate the curve isi preferably` tangent to the-edge offba-se 8, asshown'at 22. I'It isfurthernotedf'thatithe plate I4 isX preferably taperedi'rcm a maximum 5thickness at the lpoint 20 tto' atminimum fthickness -`ai'. the plate Lends 2a-s vshown 4at 2"4, #and that the taper is vpresentfthroughout the entire cross-sec- 1tion;-see especially FigZ.

"The f purpose of this "taper, present in ftheenftirefcross-section,iisltoachieveasfgradual,as'disftinguished from 'anabrup't o1-"sudden, fchange -in the section modulus as We move-"from"theniiti 'd-le 'o`f the joint-l past either-endto the-naked rail. 'The `taper#cooper-alteswith the recess I8 Lto pro- .vide thefdesired gradual t change. I have "found 5from `experience that -'a Arecessed "plate, not rtapered, or a tapered plate, not recessed, does not furnish the gradual change needed for a completely satisfactory jointi. e., one not subject to fatigue failure-although of course some of the advantages of the invention can be realized in a joint possessing only the taper or only the recesses.

The rails are preferably placed with their ends HJ and i2 spaced apart somewhat as was mentioned above. At least a portion of the space between the rail ends thus provided is preferably fllled with weld metal as shown at 26 and 28.

A strap 30 is tack-welded to the under side of the rail head 4 in order to provide a bottom for the weld metal between the heads of the two rails 2 2. Strap 30 is not intended as a reinforcement, and may be chipped 01T after welding the heads together, if desired. In the preferred embodiment, two straps 3U will be thus secured to the two rail ends, one at each side of the web 6. It is not thought necessary to the practice of this invention to fill the space between the two webs 6 with weld metal, although this may also be done if desired.

It is thus evident that this invention provides a rail joint in which the plate i4 serves as a support for the rail ends and provides support for those rail ends which diminishes gradually from a maximum between the rail ends to a minimum at the ends of the plate. This diminished support is in the preferred form provided by two expedients, namely the recesses I8 and the taper of the plate thickness from the point 20 to the ends 2l. With a joint made according to this invention, the stresses transmitted to the rail by the plate diminish gradually from a maximum between the rail ends to substantially zero at the ends of the plate, thus substantially eliminating the tendency of rails to fracture at the ends of the plate.

While there is in this application specifically described one form which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this i'orm of the same is shown for purposes of illustration, and that the invention may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rail joint for two rails laid end-to-end, a support for the rails comprising a member wider than the bases and having a recess in each end the sides of which diverge outward in a direction away from the adjacent rail ends, the recesses being at their widest points -substantially as wide as the rail bases, said member having a region of maximum thickness at the adjacent rail ends and a gradually decreasing thickness throughout the entire cross-section from said lregion toward the ends of the member, and a pair of welds securing said member throughout its length to the rail bases.

2. A rail joint comprising two rails having ground-engaging bases and being laid end-toend. and a. mem-ber welded to both bases throughout its length and having opposed recesses to provide a contact surface with each base that diminishes gradually in a direction away from the rail end, said member having a region of maximum thickness at the adjacent rail ends and a gradually decreasing thickness throughout the entire cross-section from said region toward the ends of the member.

3. In a rail joint, a pair of rails laid end-toend and having ground-engaging bases, and a recessed plate underlying said bases and being welded thereto throughout its length, the plate having a recess at each end which diverges in a direction away from the rail end to a maximum width substantially equal to the width of said base, the plate being ot a maximum thickness at the rail ends and tapering throughout its crosssection toward its ends.

4. A joint according to claim 3, in which said recess forms a curve which is tangent at its ends to the rail base.

5. A joint according to claim 2, in which each recess forms a curve which is tangent at its ends to the rail base.

6. In a lrail joint for two rails laid end-to-end, a support for the rails comprising a iiat platelike member wider than the bases disposed beneath the bases and having a pair of opposed recesses the sides of which diverge outward in a direction away from the adjacent rail ends, the recesses being at their widest points substantially as wide as the rail bases, and a pair of welds securing said member throughout its length to the rail bases.

'7. In a rail joint for two rails laid end-to-end, a support for the rails comprising a plate-like member wider than the bases and disposed beneath the bases, said member having a region of maximum thickness at the adjacent rail ends and a gradually decreasing thickness throughout the entire cross-section from said region toward the ends of the member, and a pair of welds securing said member throughout its length to the rail bases.

ARTHUR LEE BARRETT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,171,423 Gaboury Feb. 15, 1916 1,509,474 Gailor Sept. 23, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 83,979 Sweden July 30, 1935 

